or, Into the Thunderdome

The village of Haybluff (pop 100-200, near the Barrier Peaks), has called for help as the intermittent sourceless thunder that has always plagued the area has both risen to unbearable levels and is occurring on a variable scale of minutes rather than days.

The party is told to speak with Mayor Malloi, learn all it can, investigate and deal with the problem if it’s within our abilities.

The group sets off, Tashi learning how to sit in a saddle for the first time and Kaliska grimly packing ointment for saddlesores. The ride is uneventful except for some grumbling about the lack of meat in Kovaya’s otherwise well-prepared meals and about Dargrim’s snoring each night, which gradually becomes indistinguishable from the thunderclaps that grow steadily in volume as the group draws nearer to Haybluff.

The group is greeted outside down by a nauseatingly perky child, who volunteers all sorts of information about the town’s important personages that, if such behavior is allowed to continue, will undoubtedly lead to the town’s unwitting downfall when inimical forces arrive. Fortunately, Our Heroes are not that force (yet) and Kaliska contributes to the future quisling’s moral corruption by paying the child to go tell Mayor Malloi that the adventurers have arrived. She waits outside for the mayor’s arrival while the rest of the party heads into the Red Mug like the budding alcoholics they are. The amiable bartender, Dolpher, introduces them to the concept of ice in their beer, and his daughter, Lyssa, enjoys the rare experience of not being bothered at all as she serves a group of adventurers. She probably shouldn’t get used to it. Malloi duly shows up, is greeted by the group’s charming public relations specialist, and goes inside where the group’s less-charming members are nose-deep in their tankards.

Mayor Malloi shares Haybluff’s endemic cheerfullness, telling the group that the town paid 100 gp to another adventurer, Del Lorenzo, to silence the thunderclaps over the nearby wizard’s tower but that Del Lorenzo never returned, and the thunderclaps only got worse. After gleaning a little more information from the mayor and enjoying some meat for a change, the party heads over to the town’s Old-Timer, Daille. Despite enjoying a profession known for its cranky practitioners, Daille is similarly helpful, offering what little he knows about the wizard Uravulon and his household staff and promising to make something for the group if they can quiet the thunderclaps.

The wizard’s tower, about a day away, is satisfyingly malignant-looking, with lightning striking it and its grounds on a regular basis; the strike to the ground, the group swiftly determines, is landing on a metal-clad corpse. Kovaya shudders and reconsiders his armor. Kaliska and Tashi retrieve the corpse, which is indeed Del Lorenzo. His possessions are dutifully rifled and confiscated by Kaliska and his corpse encairned. The fifth lightning bolt, which was hitting the ground and causing the erratic variance in strikes, goes away. The bolts settle into a once-every-ten-minute cycle. Kovaya and Dargrim decide it will be wisest if the group drags its metal behind it on a rope when it dashes across the sizzling field to the tower’s zig-zagging stairwell.

And so it does. Kaliska eyes the tower door’s serpent-shaped handles, snorts, and uses the door knocker instead. The doors swing open and the adventure is formally afoot.

[TO REEDITNICERLATER]
Headed to haybluff. Met mayor malloi, Dolpher and Lyssa at the Red Mug. Daille at the blacksmith.

Learned about Del Lorenzo, 100gp paid to go investigate the ruins. Thunderclaps became worse once he left and didn’t return.

Headed to tower, found Del Lorenzo, cairned that mofo. Went inside, found Uravulon Calcidius trapped within his salt circle. At first he was nice, then got douchey, as douches are wont to do.

Search the rest of his tower, disabled the telescope using the acid from the pool on roof.

Fought the ghosts below, found a 15 armed skeleton.

8927GP treasure from bottom floor, also the Spellbook and scrolls from eldritch library, tons of books from regular library.